Byzantine Battles: Battle of Ophlimus

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15 th century

Battle of Ophlimus	year: 622 August 622
A Byzantine victory as a result of clever tactics by Heraclius	★ ★ ★ ★ ★

enemy: Sassanid Persians	location: Near mountain Ophlimos at the Lycus river valley, in the eastern Pontus (Black Sea region) in Northern Turkey	accuracy: ●●●●●
battle type: Mountain Battle	war: Byzantine-Persian Wars	modern country: Turkey

	▼ The Byzantines(emperor: Heraclius)	▼ The Enemies
Commander:	Emperor Heraclius	General Shahrbaraz
Forces:	Unknown	Unknown
Losses:

Background story:

From 602, when Phokas ascended the throne, killing Mauricius, who was the benefactor of the Persian king Hosroes II, Byzantium was at war with the Sassanid Persians. Even in the first years after the enthronement of Heraclius, the Persians had many spectacular successes and territorial gains, culminating in the conquest of Damascus, Antioch (613), Jerusalem (615) and Alexandria (619). By 615 they had reached Chalcedon, on the Asian coast of the Bosphorus.
Heraclius was in a very difficult position. He tried to negotiate but the enemy had no reason to compromise on a diplomatic solution. Heraclius had seriously considered either moving the capital to Carthage or surrendering to the Persians and becoming their vassal. He eventually chose to make one last counterattack. Due to the great economic hardship (due to the loss of wealth-producing areas), in order to finance the campaign, imperial and church treasures had to be sold or to be melted.
On April 5, 622, Heraclius left Constantinople, entrusting the city to Patriarch Sergius and magister Bonus.
He sailed to Bithynia and then marched into the interior of Anatolia where he began to concentrate his forces. He trained them in drill and maneuver, revived their broken moral and launched a counter-offensive, which took on the character of a holy war.
He marched to the east in order to outflank the Persians in Armenia. Shahbaraz was able to block in time the passes to the east, but Heraclius out-maneuvered them and placed his forces in the rear of the Persians who realized this only 2 weeks later.

The Battle:

The Persian general Shahbaraz attempted a night attack that a lunar eclipse canceled. Heraclius held a position on the hill Ophlimos (or Ophelimos) in the eastern Bithynia (or Pontus) at the Lycus river valley. The Persians did not like to fight in open field and they did not engage in battle.
After some waiting and maneuvering the Byzantines, realizing that a Persian detachment was spying their moves, faked a retreat. The Persians left their defensive positions and rushed to chase the fleeing enemy and they were attacked by the elite Optimates and had to retreat, suffering an unexpected defeat.

Aftermath:

After Ophlimos the Persians evacuated the region but Heraclius had to return to Constantinople later that summer, to deal with the Avar threat in the Balkans.
The battle was not decisive and there have been no serious losses, but the victory boosted the moral of the Byzantines. The major gain of that campaign was that by the end of the summer, Heraclius had organized a seasoned army.